A rearrangement of several Cabinet posts has been brought about
by the transference of Lord Wolverhampton to the post of Lord President of the Council from the Duchy of Lancaster, in which he is succeeded by Lord Fitzmaurice. Lord Fitzroaurice, who now enters the Cabinet for the flret time. was
Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1.882 to 1885, and has held the same post since 1905. He is the author, amongst other works, of the admirable Life of Lord Granville, and it is understood that he will still speak on behalf of foreign affairs, to the study of which he has devoted himself through- out his entire career, in the Howes of Lords. The resignation of Lord Ripon, which closes a long and honourable political career dating back to the early "fifties," is more a matter of regret than of surprise. The duties of Lord Privy Seal are now being discharged by Lord Crewe, an arrangement whit* will probably be continued. The rearrangement of offices shows the extreme unwillingness of the Government to face by-elections,—a strange result of the Old-Age Pensions Act, which was pushed through the Commons without proper dis- cussion, and forced upon the too timorous Lords by threats and menaces. The country, it was declared, demanded the Bill, and at once, and therefore it was impossible to wait even six months for the Report of the Poor Law Commission! That ill-starred measure will yet be the ruin of the Govern ment, and, what is infinitely worse, will probably be the ruin of Free-trade.
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